


A Greeting

by xxsnailxx



Category: World Trigger
Genre: Gen, Oops, Random Snippets, in both Azuma-san's and Miwa's POV, where Azuma-san becomes a very traditional mother figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-13 18:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5712220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxsnailxx/pseuds/xxsnailxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Have you eaten?"</p><p> </p><p>If the lady on the road asks if you've eaten, she means 'Hello'. From a mother, it becomes 'I love you'.</p><p>Miwa's sister used it as a substitute for 'Welcome home’, and when Azuma-san asked, it was an invitation to a meal (typically BBQ).</p><p>To Miwa, on the other hand, answering this question had never been anything but a pointlessly meaningless routine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Greeting

**Author's Note:**

> Credits to the brilliant Eremittens for beta-ing this.

"Have you eaten?"

Miwa frowned slightly, dropping his bag beside him and mumbling a meaningless, probably inaudible reply. He loved his sister, he did, but why she had to ask him the same question every single day, he believed he would never understand. He wished he could.

Barely a month passed before Miwa learnt to be careful what he wished for. Some things, he realised, too late, were better off being taken for granted, because even behind a simple daily greeting, there was too much meaning, too much love, for a 13 year-old to understand. But he did. He finally did, and he didn't like what he found.

Or, at least, he didn't like the way he found it.

It was a beautiful answer, really. He simply wasn't in the state to admire its beauty.

* * *

"Have you eaten?"

Azuma smiled gently at the boy. He had heard of him from Jin. Shuuji, Jin had said, had just lost his last family — his sister. _"Be nice to him,"_ the younger agent had instructed. Azuma had not needed that last piece of advice. He had always had the habit of treating his disciples as if they were his children, after all. In addition, this one was his squad member, and he was still a child.

" Don't spoil this one." That had been an order from Commander Kido. Azuma had not needed that, either. He would never attempt to spoil someone who could actually be spoiled. Some people, like Shuuji — this, Azuma sensed, even though he knew virtually nothing about the boy — would never let themselves be spoiled. Those were the ones with tragic stories.

"Yes," Shuuji replied obediently. If Azuma didn't know better, he would have thought he had only imagined Shuuji's flinch at the question. His smile almost faltered. Shuuji's recovery and reply had had none of the naivety, fear, or even enthusiasm that he had expected from young members. It had been more... dutiful. It was as if he was trained to reply that way — which was ridiculous, really. Who wasn't?

Azuma had never learnt more about someone from such a simple response.

* * *

"Have you eaten?"

At this point, Miwa was used to Azuma-san's motherly greetings. It was almost unconsciously that Miwa responded. "Yes. Thank you for your concern."

He didn't even have to raise his head to know what came next. Azuma-san took the seat opposite Miwa on the table, smiling gently in that way he always did. "Are you almost done with homework?"

"Yes," Miwa replied automatically. That had been a lie. However, the answer to 'How are you?' would always be 'I'm fine, thank you,' and the proper answer to a rhetorical question would never exist. To be polite could sometimes be difficult.

He would never be sure, but he believed that a fraction of the point in asking those pointless questions was simply to hear the other's voice. Another is to show you care. To show you care enough to read the specific truth from a completely standardised answer. Azuma-san was good at that.

"How many essays have you left? Three?" Well, maybe not _that_ good.

"Two and a half," Miwa corrected him.

"Well... You'd better enjoy them, then. School days are the best part of everyone's lives.”

“Ninomiya-senpai and Kako-senpai don’t seem to enjoy school,” Miwa pointed out. That was true, of course. He had never seen anyone as moody as Ninomiya-senpai, and the latter never spent a moment out of the kitchen if she could help it. Even as Miwa said that, Ninomiya was coldly observing the entire squad from a strategic position that; _one:_ granted him vision of the entire operations room, with the help of several carefully-placed mirrors that got into everyone else’s way (why they bore with it was a mystery), _two:_ had a perfect, unobstructed escape route in case of an explosion, and _three:_ was extremely comfortable.

Azuma-san left the table. With his head still buried in his work, Miwa could make out a quarrel between Azuma-san and Ninomiya, involving something along the lines of ‘setting a good example’ and ‘blocking the kitchen-mirror’.

* * *

Today, Azuma asked a different question.

"Have you been eating well lately?"

Azuma had never thought twice before asking questions like this. In fact, he never thought. It was natural, instinctive. And for no reason at all.

"Have you eaten?" was the familial equivalent of "How are you?", and "Have you been eating?", the version saved mostly for relatives who lived far away. It was Azuma's belief that everyone needed to hear that, once in a while, to know that they had a family. Even Shuuji, young as he had been, had calmed down pretty quickly after hearing that question everyday.

Family, a counsellor had once told Azuma, was the best cure for a traumatized child. For trauma.

But Azuma couldn't possibly have given Shuuji his family back, so he gave him the next best thing — he gave him a new one. One built with love, with training and fried rice as the (amazingly unstable) foundation. And it worked. Or, at least, Azuma believed it did.

Even though Shuuji no longer needed to hear this everyday — he had long outgrown that phase, after all — it felt only right for Azuma to assume that role of a 'nagging mother hen' whenever he met Shuuji.

Food was an important part of everyone's lives. To eat punctually, as much so. Because 'How are you?' was too general, too distant, people like Azuma — with his reputation for taking the youngsters out for food — had taken to asking about meals instead.

* * *

"Have you been eating well lately?"

This question was new in Miwa's list of routine questions. It was a _normal_ question — one that didn't require a fixed answer because it wasn't as commonly asked.

Still, Miwa chose to respond with, "I'm fine." This response, at least, was something in his life that wouldn't go wrong. He had grown accustomed to routine, and questions like this one, when asked by Azuma-san, reminded him of his sister's ridiculous habit...

 

Have you eaten?

If there was one thing that hadn't changed, it was the fact that Miwa's response to a question like that would always remain meaningless. As much as he appreciated their concern and the well of love beneath the lid of an everyday greeting, Miwa would never understand why they couldn't choose a better question to ask.

This time, at least, he didn't intend to wish for the wisdom.

**Author's Note:**

> Incidentally, 'Have you eaten?' is a traditional Chinese greeting (also frequently used to ask if someone has to much free time and imply that he is being lame XD), and I'm not even sure if they use it in Japan oops.
> 
> Please forgive this idiotic Chinese. If they don't use it in Japan, then assume that this is an AU where everyone grew up in China and the author simply forgot to tag 'China AU'.
> 
> Well, anyway, it's probably really obvious, but my inspiration came from Chapter 120, Azuma-san's 'Have you been eating well lately?' and Ninomiya's mini profile, stating that Miwa was also from old Azuma squad.
> 
> I'm extremely sorry that the rest of Old Azuma Squad didn't get a proper line Q.Q
> 
> Please comment because I need to know how to improve :) Thanks!


End file.
